A file image of the Port of Oakland and San Francisco skyline in Oakland, California (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
OAKLAND, Calif. - The Bay Area, widely considered the tech capital of the world, is also home to cities that are the most vulnerable to cyberattacks, a new analysis found.
At the top of the list was Oakland.
San Francisco came in second.
San Jose ranked fourth most vulnerable to cyberassaults.
The analysis was conducted by Los Gatos cloud-based software company ShareVault, which looked at 58 major U.S. cities and how at risk their companies and individuals were to cyberattacks.
What they're saying:
"Cyberattacks can disrupt everything from hospital systems and financial services to the accounts Americans use every day," ShareVault researchers noted, adding, "However, the threat is not evenly distributed."
California cities dominated
Researchers found California dominated the list, taking five of the top 10 slots, with the Bay Area’s biggest cities at the top.
By the numbers:
"Oakland ranks first with 102.25 breaches per 10,000 residents," ShareVault wrote in its report. "San Francisco follows in second, with 40% of its industries considered high risk, while San Jose ranks fourth with a 39% high-risk industry concentration and the 10th-highest breach rate."
Methodology
ShareVault conducted its findings based on the key factors of job postings for cybersecurity-related positions, the number of workers employed in cybersecurity-related jobs, and data breaches, all per 10,000 people.
The analysis also considered the concentration of industries in which cyber threats could have the greatest impact.
It cited sources including the U.S. Census Bureau's County Business Patterns.
The report was published by Manufacturing Business Technology, which covers news about the manufacturing sector, industrial operations, cybersecurity, and digital technology.
Dig deeper:
Editorial Director Jeff Reinke pointed to the high concentration of tech presence in this region.
"California ranks highly because its companies and individuals present the two things that hackers value and target the most - data and money," Reinke explained to KTVU.
He noted that with the large number of tech firms, there is greater data in widespread locations, creating more opportunities for an attack.
"California's tech-rich companies have a ton of data housed in different places that can be accessed by breaking in or stealing credentials at numerous endpoints," according to Reinke.
AI increases risk
In a climate where fears and concerns over the direction of artificial intelligence have hit a fever pitch, it's not surprising that the technology has become a widely used tool by hackers.
SEE ALSO: 'Stop the AI Race' rally outside Dreamforce in San Francisco
Reinke said AI has made it even more difficult to protect data.
"It's nearly impossible to defend every vantage point and now hackers can use AI to find these vulnerabilities and scale their attacks more quickly than ever before," Reinke said.
Ransom attacks
In those cases when cybercriminals corner companies in privacy breach ransom attacks, many companies end up capitulating to the demands in their desperate need to retrieve the stolen data.
"Most will pay the ransom without even contacting law enforcement," Reinke explained.
He said all of these factors allow hackers to remain active.
The landscape "keeps hackers coming back, with many getting hit multiple times in the same calendar year," according to Reinke.
Other California cities
The other California cities listed in the top 10 most vulnerable were Long Beach and Sacramento. They ranked sixth and seventh place, respectively.
ShareVault's figures showed that Long Beach had the third-highest breach rate and among the highest rate of unfilled cybersecurity jobs.
And California's capital city recorded 84.12 breaches per 10,000 residents, the fourth-highest level nationally.
Least at risk
On the other end of the list, Albuquerque, New Mexico was identified as the city with the lowest recorded cyber risk.
Las Vegas followed with 3.58 breaches per 10,000 and was found to have a relatively small concentration of high-risk industries.
In this technologically driven world, for many businesses, cyber assaults have become a routine threat and maybe even the norm.
"For some," Reinke said, "cyberattacks have simply become a cost of doing business."
A massive cyberattack has crippled healthcare providers across the US (Getty Images)
Top 10 cities most at risk:
1. Oakland
2. San Francisco
3. Boston
4. San Jose
5. Jersey City, N.J.
6. Long Beach
7. Sacramento
8. Arlington, Texas
9. Pittsburgh
10. New York
Source: ShareVault
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